Texture Sizes

For maximum compatability with older hardware, what texture sizes should I stick to? (i.e. is it considered bad practice to make a 512x64 texture?) I've seen something once where it warned me not to do something like, uh... use more than 65535 area or something, I don't recall.

Never mind, I've figured out my own problem anyway, after a quick google search. However this info may help someone.

http://www.slackiller.com/tommy14/tex-dimensions.htm

Basically I was right, don't exceed 65536 pixels in area. Also you can't use more than 512 on a side or so, that's bad.

Well 512x512 is probably the maximum you want to push it. I don't think I've seen a 1024 texture in HL yet though...

according to that link, 256x512 is as high as you want to go. that seems based on engine limits..?

I remember hearing 256x256 was the max for some older video cards and higher dimensions would be scaled down and blown up (blurred)... but that was a few years ago, and 'older' would probably have meant old 8meg cards lol. That's what I've always stuck with, though.

To be honest, big textures are kinda overrated. So many textures just tile anyway, and a lot of the 1024x1024 ones I've seen in UnrealEd could just as easily have been 256x256- ie they look just like 4 of the same 256x256 tiled. That, or they are too damn big and you have to scale them down, not good for the polies. Though I'm sure I'll change my tune as I get more used to using them.

Unreal 1024 x 1024 textures might as well be blown up 128 x 128 for the detail levels I use to make the game run smoothly...

256x256 is the max for older video cards to display, the compile tools say that 512x512 textures can cause problems. I have a few 512x512 textures in my maps for stuff like grass and dirt so that you don't have so much of a repeating effect.

Jinx said:
according to that link, 256x512 is as high as you want to go. that seems based on engine limits..?

I remember hearing 256x256 was the max for some older video cards and higher dimensions would be scaled down and blown up (blurred)... but that was a few years ago, and 'older' would probably have meant old 8meg cards lol. That's what I've always stuck with, though.

To be honest, big textures are kinda overrated. So many textures just tile anyway, and a lot of the 1024x1024 ones I've seen in UnrealEd could just as easily have been 256x256- ie they look just like 4 of the same 256x256 tiled. That, or they are too damn big and you have to scale them down, not good for the polies. Though I'm sure I'll change my tune as I get more used to using them.

The link says that you want a "lump size" of no more than 65536, otherwise software mode and older video cards won't show your textures or will screw them all up. So 512x256 is the max, not because of engine limits, but please think of those of us using software mode or a Voodoo 3.

NS uses lots of 256x256 textures that look rather nice, but be aware (of course) that bigger textures means more texture memory used - with a 4mb limit, that's kind of bad...

you can boost that limit to 8mb with ZHLT though. dunno if that would be much slower on older cards or not. I think it's reasonable to figure most people have at least a 16mb card by now. and why the hell would anyone play in software mode?

I've known the occasional software mode player, especially at LAN parties where some people don't own computers to speak of, and we give them a Pentium 200mhz to play instead. Also, going over 4mb makes the game unplayable (I think) on some older graphics cards that don't actually HAVE more than 4 mbs of video RAM.

I played in software mode as recently as a year ago. Hell, I still do sometimes just to watch cl_drawflat 1 or whatever that variable is.

I'm sorry but I won't sympathize for those who're using software mode. There is a point where letting lower end users play is out of hand. Someone using Software mode and getting like 4 fps isn't someone I'm aiming to map at. That's really below any recommended setup. r_speeds is one thing where it is an engine limitation, but something like this isn't the same. I can just imagine how brutal the game plays on something like that, and if you're any kind of gamer then you shouldn't be using something like that.

yeah, I have sympathy for people on older computers with older cards, but you have to draw the line someplace. why should we be making our maps to be played on computers that probably don't even meet HL's minimum system requirements, those that were on the box when we bought it 5 years ago?

draw the line someplace as jinxy says.. someone using software mode is just as unreasonable as us trying to play a map above 1000 r's

i say, try to grab as many people as possible and let the others use old maps.